What They're Saying: Stanford 58, WSU 0

Daniel Novinson

11/01/2008

Stanford did as well as it could have Saturday, beating hapless Washington State 58-0 in the rain. The Bootleg reviews the WSU games, plus looks ahead at how Stanford, Cal and USC's home-road splits will affect the Card's odds of reaching bowl eligibility. Plus, read what Stanford and WSU newspaper writers thought.

Stanford 58, Washington
State 0

Taking care
of business

We're
not going to let ourselves get carried away and draw too
many conclusions from a 58-point rout of, arguably, the worst-ever
BCS-conference team, but here are a few observations it's safe
to draw after Saturday:

1. Stanford did what good teams do.
They buried overmatched Washington State, stepped on the gas and didn't let off
until the score was 51-0 with 19 minutes left. The Card aren't playing down to
their opponents. The two games in which they've
been serious favorites, today and against San Jose State, they looked the
part.

2. The Cardinal are now officially playing on
the house's money at 5-4. It certainly won't feel this way if Stanford
does lose its last three, but the Cardinal have already met any rational
expectations for their 2008 season. Preseason, no one outside our message boards
would have thought that the Card would make a bowl this year, Vegas casinos had
Stanford's win total at four, and the Card were universally picked to finish
next to the Washington schools at the bottom of the Pac-10. We'll leave it to
you the reader to
insert the trite line here about how they don't play the games on
paper.

3. No place like home. Let Jim
Harbaugh decry the small crowds all he wants, but the Card are now 4-0 at
home, including their two best wins of the season, upsets of Arizona and Oregon
State. The Card are 4-0
against the spread at home too, thanks to trouncing the Cougars and
Spartans.

4. On the road, however, life has been
difficult, to put it charitably. Stanford is 1-4 (and just 1-4 against the
spread), with only the upset win of Jake Locker-less Washington to its credit.
The way Stanford's been playing at home, you'd have to think they would have
been competitive, if not outright favorites, against UCLA, Arizona State and
Notre Dame, were those games held in Palo Alto. The difference between being on
the road versus at home is worth less than a touchdown to most teams, but for
Stanford this season, it's seemed to be worth about double that, for whatever
reason. (The Card were 2-2 on the road last year, but just 2-6 at
home, making this year's trend all the more surprising.)
It's been wonderful thus far, but let's hope that trend snaps really
soon...

5. 1-in-3. Early guesses: Stanford +13
at Oregon. Stanford +18 vs. USC. Stanford +17 at Cal. (Some comparative lines
that shaped my opinion: Oregon was -19 vs. UCLA and -10 vs. Boise
State, USC was -24 at Oregon State and -14 at Arizona, and Cal was -18
vs. UCLA and -9.5 vs. ASU.) Stanford +13, +18 and +17 would
imply the Card have a 15 percent chance against Oregon, and about a 10
percent chance against USC and Cal, which in turn means Stanford will steal
at least one of their next three just over 30 percent of the time. 1-in-3
to go bowling sounds about right, and that's our best guess as to whether
the BootTrain might be rolling into Vegas or Hawaii in two months'
time.

6. USC overrated, Cal underrated?
Stanford's best shot at qualifying for a bowl undoutedly comes this
Saturday. However, if the Card were to strike out in Eugene, their odds of
reaching the magic number six against USC are better than fans might think at
first glance. Stanford will have its massive homefield edge working in its
favor, and USC also has one of the biggest home-road disparities in the country.
The Trojans did paste Virginia and Washington State on the road, but also lost
27-21 at Oregon State and squeaked by Arizona, 17-10. At home, conversely, USC
has demolished a better slate of teams, Ohio State, Oregon,
Arizona State and Washington, by at least 28 points apiece. Cal, meanwhile, is
another team with a huge home-road split: a perfect 5-0 straight up
and against the spread in
Berkeley, but 1-2 on both counts (with the only win Washington State)
away.

USC is a better team than Cal, and with next Saturday's
game in L.A., the Trojans should make that abundantly clear. But with USC at
home, Cal on the road and all three teams showing Jekell and Hyde-like home-away
splits,
I think Stanford has about even shots in each of its last
two.

Stanford pours it on Washington State 58-0Darren
SabedraSan Jose
Mercury NewsStanford did the expected Saturday,
running over dreadful Washington State 58-0 on a rain-soaked afternoon at mostly
empty Stanford Stadium.

Stanford back to playing underdogDarren SabedraSan Jose Mercury
NewsStanford found itself in
uncharted waters Saturday as an overwhelming favorite. But starting this week at
Oregon, the Cardinal will be back in its underdog role.

It's hard to define WSU's weaknesses when everything goes so
poorlyBud WithersSeattle
TimesSomeday, perhaps Saturday's dreary tableau
will merely be a faded memory of a unspeakably bad time: Steady rain descended,
the clock expired and a Washington State assistant coach barked at a handful of
WSU players slogging off the field toward the locker room, to remind htem to
shake hands with Stanford.

Stanford clubs Washington St. 58-0Howie
StalwickSeattle Post
IntelligencerWashington State rendered a
performance Saturday that was a mirror image of the weather: dark, dreary and
all wet.

Cougars Notebook: Cougars admit some gave
upHowie
StalwickSeattle Post IntelligencerPaul Wulff, the first-year coach of the Washington State football team,
has questioned the character of some of his players on more than a few
occasions.

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